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Topic Review (Newest First)

02-09-2014 08:56 AM

MARTINSR

Quote:

Originally Posted by gearheadslife

this is a hot rod site or is it.. grandma's sunday drive..
look, if you want to do 25 in a 45 on a dry day.. that's your choice.. but when a car try's to pass let them go.. if you see a line of cars behind you, it might be time to either go the speed limit or move over and let the cars go.. I'll never blame anyone for driving slow in the rain(not a mist) or snow.. 9 times out of 10, these dopes are yapp'n on their phone.. or looking at the houses and landscapes.. sorry.. I leave plenty of time to get to work, but not enough time if I'm forced to do 20mph slower the whole way.. do the math Brian if it takes me 58 minutes to get to work, and that's at an avg speed of 55, how much longer is it at 35??
it isn't 30 seconds or "just a minute" most times they are driving 15-20 under because they've been drinking not because it's snowing, or raining..

No where have I said 15-20 under, I am saying drive with the mass, not under at all. And if you haven't keep a log as to how long anything takes you are going with what you THINK, that is a whole different story than facts, this is what I have tried to express here. I studied these things, I kept logs, I averaged them out, etc. The facts I found were that I had a seriously distorted image of time as most everyone does.

I learned a great deal from my studies and now drive with a smile on my face and let everyone do as they may being it really isn't changing my life one single bit.

Brian

02-09-2014 08:49 AM

MARTINSR

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bryan59EC

Okay----this I completely understand. But you folks that are in congested areas will have a whole different outlook on this.
I seem to recall that you only have about 2 miles to go----dunno how many lights, but I do know they are all over the place in the greater Bay Area.

I have about 30 miles to go and 3 of the 5 signals that I encounter are within a single mile of the hiway.

Ever been behind 2 semis having an elephant race on the freeway----stuck behind those morons for 8+ miles----happens to me all the time, and they are traveling @ 10 under----on the freeway. This is not even counting the countless idiots chatting on the cell in the left lane pacing the car on the right.

As a general rule---a traffic stack-up is usually caused by an accident or fire--I have no problems dealing with this and it does not even bother me.

Years ago when I was about 11, my aunt came up to Idaho for a visit.
She wanted to take us all out for dinner, but the only real decent places were in the next CITIES----about 30 miles north and south of us. My mom made the comment that they were way far at 30 miles, and my aunt replied
"Hell, that's just like going across town--no biggie". She still lives in Los Angeles.

Me---my closest gas station is 10 miles out---or actually in toward town.
Seldom have to worry about foul weather or roads. I don't even actually have to go "Into" town as my job is on the outskirts.

geography has a lot to do with how we drive our cars.
When I lived in Phoenix, I expected the freeway to only move at 25mph during the peak hours, and it is not much different now. It has on several occasions taken over 45min to an hour to get from my worksite to the hotel, less than 15 miles. This does not bother me at all.

You have 1 or 2 guys in front tying up traffic and it creates very unsafe conditions----Kinda like the Trooper that is traveling just under and stacking everyone up, but nobody wants to go by him. These people are all jockying for position and getting nowhere..
Me---If I get the opportunity----I'm blowing by him---safest place to be is in front and opening the gap.
Oh---and for what it is worth---the first half of my morning trip is state hiway posted 55mph, and I generally set the cruise at 57 (this section is a moneymaker for the state/county).

Yes my drive to work is 5.5 miles in a suburb in the SF bay area with about 12 stop lights. I understand it's different. But everything I have said works everywhere. My daughter lives 200 miles away, I just went there for a party yesterday and I use all the exact principles on that trip going 65 without a light as I do on my drive to work. The length, the speed, none of that matters. I watch the same thing happening out on the highway. I am in the middle lane going five miles an hour faster than the slow lane, I am PACING the cars in front of me, we are all going the exact same speed. The fast lane is going about 5 miles an hour faster than me. I am pacing them with them slightly pulling away....about five miles an hour faster. People are passing me going 10-15 mph faster than me only to hit the brakes as they slow to the speed the entire fast lane is going. They then dart over in front of me and gain a car length and dart back over in front of that car in the fast lane. They are totally and completely clueless to the fact that they aren't going any faster than the MASS.

Go out and drive in the slow lane next time, drive like you are being paid by the hour and watch what goes on, time the trip, see how different it is and you will find it is just a few minutes, while the entertainment you gain watching the people cutting in and out of traffic to gain thirty feet is well worth the few minutes.

Brian

02-09-2014 08:10 AM

Bryan59EC

Quote:

Originally Posted by RAYFIN

Built lots of hot rods and know how to make power BUT now I'm building a really light weight 83 Chevy 1/2 ton 4x4 to use as a shop truck for my upholstery business. I am looking to build it for great gas milage, mostly around town. We need 4wd in Iowa.
I am looking for engine suggestions. I have a stock 350 with ramhorn exhaust and an edelbrock 600 right now. I also have a performer intake and a quadrajet I'm thinking of using. Weight will be about -1000 pounds. TH350 2.56 gears. Part time 4wd with lockouts. Runs great and I got it CHEAP.
LOw budget but if I can get better milage it may pay to make major mods. My 90 efi chevy SUCKS gas.

Pretty sure the 2.56 gearing will be a killer for in town driving.

Was not really aware that "part time" 4x4 was available with an auto trans.
(Not an option in the earlier years)
If it an add on "freewheeling" hub kit, it is pointless to have as you will be in
4-HI LOCK all the time----the differential in the transfer case will not allow the truck to move with the front "FREE" and in just 4-hi.
No free mileage to be had with everything still spinning and locked up.

Of course if you have a 2-hi indicator--the previous transfer case statement does not apply.

might look into getting gearing around 3.73----3.40ish
Not so bad as 4.10 for cruising, but much easier to get the truck moving in town.

Like I mentioned earlier----the truck I had got 10mpg under ANY condition.
Just would not get any better---but it had 4.10 gearing

02-09-2014 02:16 AM

gearheadslife

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bryan59EC

Me---If I get the opportunity----I'm blowing by him---safest place to be is in front and opening the gap.
.

:thum bup:

02-09-2014 12:30 AM

mud.man.rj

getting weird or what....

Ok guy's maybe we should get back to what he really wanted, how do we get better fuel economy...hmm ok, roller rockers, electric fans instead of a mechanical fan, good gear ratio, properly inflated tires, maybe a better intake and proper size carb..like not a 750 on a small block, say also a properly setup choke on the carb, an exhaust system properly sized to the engine..no cork so at least 2 1/4 to 2 1/2" a better air filter,, what else guys come on instead of the grampa driving tricks for 10 posts.

02-08-2014 07:22 PM

Bryan59EC

Quote:

Originally Posted by MARTINSR

Something funny on this subject hit me a few days ago on the way home from work. I was stopped at a light about five cars back and a motorcycle came thru between us up to the crosswalk. He waited just like me for the light to turn red and it hit me, he is doing that at every light and not getting where he is going any faster than this old dude in the Rambler "stuck" in traffic! LOL At the next light he is doing the same thing, and the next one and the next one and he is twenty seconds ahead of me when he pulls in his driveway! LOLOL

You can't go faster than the traffic or lights, you just can't!

Brian

Okay----this I completely understand. But you folks that are in congested areas will have a whole different outlook on this.
I seem to recall that you only have about 2 miles to go----dunno how many lights, but I do know they are all over the place in the greater Bay Area.

I have about 30 miles to go and 3 of the 5 signals that I encounter are within a single mile of the hiway.

Ever been behind 2 semis having an elephant race on the freeway----stuck behind those morons for 8+ miles----happens to me all the time, and they are traveling @ 10 under----on the freeway. This is not even counting the countless idiots chatting on the cell in the left lane pacing the car on the right.

As a general rule---a traffic stack-up is usually caused by an accident or fire--I have no problems dealing with this and it does not even bother me.

Years ago when I was about 11, my aunt came up to Idaho for a visit.
She wanted to take us all out for dinner, but the only real decent places were in the next CITIES----about 30 miles north and south of us. My mom made the comment that they were way far at 30 miles, and my aunt replied
"Hell, that's just like going across town--no biggie". She still lives in Los Angeles.

Me---my closest gas station is 10 miles out---or actually in toward town.
Seldom have to worry about foul weather or roads. I don't even actually have to go "Into" town as my job is on the outskirts.

geography has a lot to do with how we drive our cars.
When I lived in Phoenix, I expected the freeway to only move at 25mph during the peak hours, and it is not much different now. It has on several occasions taken over 45min to an hour to get from my worksite to the hotel, less than 15 miles. This does not bother me at all.

You have 1 or 2 guys in front tying up traffic and it creates very unsafe conditions----Kinda like the Trooper that is traveling just under and stacking everyone up, but nobody wants to go by him. These people are all jockying for position and getting nowhere..
Me---If I get the opportunity----I'm blowing by him---safest place to be is in front and opening the gap.
Oh---and for what it is worth---the first half of my morning trip is state hiway posted 55mph, and I generally set the cruise at 57 (this section is a moneymaker for the state/county).

02-08-2014 05:45 PM

poncho62

Life would be great if we all drove exactly the same.....and we were all exactly the same.......or would it?......

02-08-2014 03:11 PM

gearheadslife

this is a hot rod site or is it.. grandma's sunday drive..
look, if you want to do 25 in a 45 on a dry day.. that's your choice.. but when a car try's to pass let them go.. if you see a line of cars behind you, it might be time to either go the speed limit or move over and let the cars go.. I'll never blame anyone for driving slow in the rain(not a mist) or snow.. 9 times out of 10, these dopes are yapp'n on their phone.. or looking at the houses and landscapes.. sorry.. I leave plenty of time to get to work, but not enough time if I'm forced to do 20mph slower the whole way.. do the math Brian if it takes me 58 minutes to get to work, and that's at an avg speed of 55, how much longer is it at 35??
it isn't 30 seconds or "just a minute" most times they are driving 15-20 under because they've been drinking not because it's snowing, or raining..

02-08-2014 02:30 PM

MARTINSR

Quote:

Originally Posted by Denny

By get it, I mean simply people will eventually see that there is very little difference. I drive according to what and where I need to be. Without rushing. You never know what might be up the road a ways, or if you yourself will get detained. A detour work area, a car wreck, (cause someone was in a big hurry), strained motorist, You forgot something at home, and had to turn around and get it. Coming into small areas where there is cross traffic, but you have the right away. How many times have you seen someone pull out in front of you ? You have to be cautious, and maybe slow down a little to be alert at that point. Lots of people think because they have the right away, no one will pull into there lane. Never figure that. Things like that. No one drives the same. It's a combination of drivers, and driving habits. That's just the way it is. Myself, I just mostly go with the flow of traffic.

It's as simple as that in a nut shell.

Back years ago I remember seeing a short film or public announcement or something about a guy stuck in a traffic jamb because of a crash. As he creeps past the crash he is mad because that jerk was to blame for his inconvenience. All the while the guy is shown covered with blood and they cover his face as they put him in the ambulance dead. It put things in perspective.

Brian

02-08-2014 02:05 PM

Denny

By get it, I mean simply people will eventually see that there is very little difference. I drive according to what and where I need to be. Without rushing. You never know what might be up the road a ways, or if you yourself will get detained. A detour work area, a car wreck, (cause someone was in a big hurry), strained motorist, You forgot something at home, and had to turn around and get it. Coming into small areas where there is cross traffic, but you have the right away. How many times have you seen someone pull out in front of you ? You have to be cautious, and maybe slow down a little to be alert at that point. Lots of people think because they have the right away, no one will pull into there lane. Never figure that. Things like that. No one drives the same. It's a combination of drivers, and driving habits. That's just the way it is.
Myself, I just mostly go with the flow of traffic.

02-08-2014 12:59 PM

MARTINSR

Quote:

Originally Posted by Denny

Maybe, just maybe, gearheadslife will get it some day ? Or, maybe not. Some people do, and some people don't.

I don't mean to try to get anyone to "get it", I am just blown out of my ever loving mind to see things so differently than I did years ago. And I am so glad I do. The funny thing is, it's so ridiculously obvious! But man is the mind powerful, we see what we want to see.

I have been working at it for a long time now, it's been a few years and I still am surprised by things when they hit me, like that motorcyclist at the light. He REALLY thinks he is going faster than me in my Rambler. He is all decked out in leather, and full face on a bike that would literally go up the quarter mile, turn around and get back to the light faster than I could run the quarter one way in the Rambler, LITERALLY. Yet he is not going any faster than me. It's wild to think about that, but it's the truth.

Get out on the highway, that's different. I have driven hundreds of miles averaging 90+ and I got there a lot faster than at the speed limit. But on a 15 mile drive, what good would it do me to go 90? We are talking a couple of minutes here, is that going to change my life to get where I am going a minute or two sooner? And that is a not the norm, our usual drive is a few miles and we are going 40, what difference would going 45 make? SECONDS, mere seconds! We have such a twisted image of time it isn't funny.

How long does it take to get up from the couch and get your shoes from the closet and put them on lacing them up ready to walk out the door? Ask this of people and they will give you crazy numbers like five minutes, even ten minutes! When it would take you about 30 seconds to do this!

Brian

02-08-2014 12:38 PM

Denny

Quote:

Originally Posted by MARTINSR

That is the basic California speed law "as fast as conditions allow". The speed limit is posted 65, it's pouring rain or snowing, the speed limit may be 45 going past those signs that say 65. Well if the traffic is going 45, for what ever reason, then the "conditions" are for 45 miles per hour. I don't make the rain come down to slow me, and I don't make the 500 cars a mile on the road slow me down either but there it is, it exists so I am going to slow down.

Try looking at other people, humans, fellow humans that are next to you at a light. Look at their faces, who are they? What are they doing? Make up a story, try to make it as different as your story. That man is single and going out on his first date with a woman who will become his wife. That woman has lost three babies to miscarriage and is going to her doctors appointment to hear if her baby is healthy this time. That man with the little boy in the back seat, he is driving him to school and then will go off to work as doing something you know nothing about. They have different lives but they deserve to be there just as us.

I can't express how much I have learned studying traffic as I have. It has been such an eye opener, I don't think a thing about it now as I drive where I use to feel just like most people, that car in front of me is keeping me from where I need to be! That is honestly how most people think, as I once did. I will say it again, "that car in front of me is keeping me from where I need to be"

It's fascinating but that is what people think, and I can't express more that I once thought the same way. Now as I drive I see it in other people, and I am fascinated with it every day. I am fascinated that I use to feel that way and that it is SOOOO obvious that it's not true, that car in front of me is NOT stopping me, the MASS of cars I am in, the MASS of cars that I am a part of is what is keeping me from getting where I want to be!

It is so insanely obvious to me now that the car I once passed in anger because he was HOLDING ME BACK is 20 seconds behind me when I get where I was going. It is so insanely obvious to me that the car that I once blew pass as I hit the yellow light and he stopped as it turned red was right beside me at the red light a few lights later. This is all so painfully obvious I just have a hard time grasping that I once drove like this. And I stare in wonder as I see the guy in another car do this very thing with me right beside him. This 59 Rambler is right beside the guy at the light that HAD to get past him three blocks ago!

Amazing it is just amazing.

Brian

Maybe, just maybe, gearheadslife will get it some day ? Or, maybe not. Some people do, and some people don't.

02-08-2014 12:36 PM

MARTINSR

Something funny on this subject hit me a few days ago on the way home from work. I was stopped at a light about five cars back and a motorcycle came thru between us up to the crosswalk. He waited just like me for the light to turn red and it hit me, he is doing that at every light and not getting where he is going any faster than this old dude in the Rambler "stuck" in traffic! LOL At the next light he is doing the same thing, and the next one and the next one and he is twenty seconds ahead of me when he pulls in his driveway! LOLOL

You can't go faster than the traffic or lights, you just can't!

Brian

02-08-2014 12:18 PM

MARTINSR

Quote:

Originally Posted by gearheadslife

come drive in this state they'll drive you bonkers

I have driven thru 29 states, I have never driven anywhere that made me drive any different. In the east coast, that is where it was most different to me, but it was more about the roads themselves. Man, you have to be a navigational genius to drive in Connecticut or Rhode Island. Geez they dumbed it down by the time the highways were being built on the west coast.

Drivers in your area may be different, but it's how we see it what makes all the difference.

Brian

02-08-2014 12:12 PM

MARTINSR

Quote:

Originally Posted by Denny

Your a funny guy. I would say the guy trying to set the speed is unsafe. DOUBLE PERIOD. I always go by the conditions, and the age group of the person driving. Race track is for racing, not the street. If your in a hurry, you should start earlier. Myself, I just cope with the drivers out there. Makes life a lot easier. Try it. Dodge when you have to, and go around when you can.
If I'm not in a hurry, I don't hurry regardless of the speed sign limit.

That is the basic California speed law "as fast as conditions allow". The speed limit is posted 65, it's pouring rain or snowing, the speed limit may be 45 going past those signs that say 65. Well if the traffic is going 45, for what ever reason, then the "conditions" are for 45 miles per hour. I don't make the rain come down to slow me, and I don't make the 500 cars a mile on the road slow me down either but there it is, it exists so I am going to slow down.

Try looking at other people, humans, fellow humans that are next to you at a light. Look at their faces, who are they? What are they doing? Make up a story, try to make it as different as your story. That man is single and going out on his first date with a woman who will become his wife. That woman has lost three babies to miscarriage and is going to her doctors appointment to hear if her baby is healthy this time. That man with the little boy in the back seat, he is driving him to school and then will go off to work as doing something you know nothing about. They have different lives but they deserve to be there just as us.

I can't express how much I have learned studying traffic as I have. It has been such an eye opener, I don't think a thing about it now as I drive where I use to feel just like most people, that car in front of me is keeping me from where I need to be! That is honestly how most people think, as I once did. I will say it again, "that car in front of me is keeping me from where I need to be"

It's fascinating but that is what people think, and I can't express more that I once thought the same way. Now as I drive I see it in other people, and I am fascinated with it every day. I am fascinated that I use to feel that way and that it is SOOOO obvious that it's not true, that car in front of me is NOT stopping me, the MASS of cars I am in, the MASS of cars that I am a part of is what is keeping me from getting where I want to be!

It is so insanely obvious to me now that the car I once passed in anger because he was HOLDING ME BACK is 20 seconds behind me when I get where I was going. It is so insanely obvious to me that the car that I once blew pass as I hit the yellow light and he stopped as it turned red was right beside me at the red light a few lights later. This is all so painfully obvious I just have a hard time grasping that I once drove like this. And I stare in wonder as I see the guy in another car do this very thing with me right beside him. This 59 Rambler is right beside the guy at the light that HAD to get past him three blocks ago!

Amazing it is just amazing.

Brian

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